Which basketball program do you hate the most?

[HuskyNan]

One seriously offensive image. Another person in whose failures I reveled.

Do you like this image better?

 

[HuskyNan]

For those who reject the word "hate" in this thread - here in Red Sox country, uh, New England, those of us who grew up on one side or the other of the Great Baseball Debate (Red Sox vs Yankees) know full well what it is to hate another team while not necessarily hating the people on the team. After all, it's not the same people from year to year. I've stood in Fenway Park, in the bleachers where the real fans sit, and cursed Dave Winfield and, ugh, Reggie Jackson, I've owned a tee shirt that says "My favorite team is the Red Sox and whoever plays the Yankees", I've made a million Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner jokes and I've declared I wasn't going to watch baseball any more whenever the Yankees won the World Series. But while I despise the team and always root for them to lose in an embarrassing fashion, I've always liked and respected individual players (especially the classy Derek Jeter).

"Hating" Tennessee or Notre Dame or Duke in this context isn't the same as hating child abusers or even the same as hating a politician. There's nothing personal; it's the program or sometimes the coach that is considered the enemy. For example, a lot of UConn fans feel differently towards Duke under McCallie than they did when Coach G was there. Interaction between the fan bases have a lot to do with the "hate" as well. (I'm not going into that topic, thank you very much)

Maybe Eric could have elaborated a little on his definition of hate but otherwise, this topic is OK for the offseason.

 

[shinobimono]

For me, it is clearly Notre Dame. I was not yet a fan of UConn when the Lady Vols were still ascendant, so the intense hatred for them that I often see here is mostly lost on me, but I understand it. Actually, I grew up in East Lansing, Michigan on the campus of MSU (my father taught there). We lived in campus housing that is now the site of the Breslin Center (the MSU basketball arena), in fact Magic Johnson’s statue is located right where our backyard used to be. Magic was supposed to attend my high school (the school near his home that he wanted to attend), but the introduction of busing sent him to a school across town. The MSU football stadium was only about a five minute walk from our home. I even had tickets to the so-called “Game of the Century” between MSU and Notre Dame in 1966 that ended in a 10-10 tie. Therefore, I was already raised to not like Notre Dame, a traditional football rival. That said, I find the Notre Dame fan posters on this site to be among my favorite.

 

[SCGamecock]

Note that South Carolina isn't on the list. They haven't really given us a game, yet; I wonder how far we've burrowed into their psyche. Maybe this season will be the one for them.

Well, we're not really rivals yet, and for a few reasons:

(1) We seldom play one another. I think this upcoming season will be the 5th time we've ever played. 3 of those times will be in the last 3 years.

(2) Also, like you've mentioned, we've never won a game versus UCONN. How can you dislike a team that's never seriously challenged you? SC just went to its first NCAA Final Four in school history not too long ago. The program still has wobbly knees.. We're in that awkward stage right before puberty.

(3) We don't share a geographic area. In my opinion, in college sports regional rivalries are easier to fester than national ones. Being in the same conference? Even better.

(4) We don't recruit against one another enough. UCONN recruits nationally and competes nationally against other national programs for national recruits.. (I used that word a lot for a reason). SC is JUST beginning to recruit nationally. We still pick our battles carefully when it comes to chasing after top 30 players. Sure, our 2014 class was strong (2 of those players are no longer here) and Wilson was a major win for us over UCONN/Tenn, but she was also from right down the street and didn't intend on straying too far from home. One top 5 class doesn't mean SC is going to recruit with the likes of ND/Maryland/UCONN/Baylor/Louisville every year. Those schools have sustained success over a long period of time.

Other less obvious reasons..

(5) Our coaching staffs are openly amicable towards one another and so are our players. Our HC's even have a sort of mentor/mentee relationship and they have a philly connection.

(6) We don't poison one another's message boards with hate, yet. ..and this kind of relates to #3... there's not enough vitriol between the two fanbases. I actually live in Connecticut now and wear SC stuff all of the time. I've had nothing but pleasant encounters with UCONNWBB fans and great basketball discussion, not even a little heckling. That would never happen in Tennessee or Kentucky.


Maybe if SC furthers cements itself as a big time program and starts winning games versus UCONN, then yeah.... but until then.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Boston College, but dislike not hate

 

[UcMiami]

When I posted my 'we don't have enough hatred in women's sports' diatribe it was certainly meant tongue in check, but I do think there is a certain kernel of truth in it. The more posts I read here and the more I think about the other sports I follow and the men's sports forums I have visited the more truth I think it contains.

This idea was borrowed from the men's board and I just checked - there is one poster who has stated they don't 'hate' Syracuse, because they are located in the hell hole of central upstate NY with a coach who picks his nose, etc, etc. Everybody else just steps up to the plate and names names. No 'hatred is too strong a word', or 'I try not to hate anything'.
When I followed the Celtics I hated LA even if Magic and Bird were all buddy buddy - they took what I wanted too many times!
The Jets ... love to dance on their grave, and watch with glee ever stumbling bumbling ineptitude.
Bucky Dent - public enemy #1 (And #2 is the coach who left Billy Buckner in playing first base late with a lead!)

Sports are supposed to be cathartic and a way to release tensions - the Romans really perfected it as a civic exercise and the more blood and guts spilled (literally) the better! I am not advocating that we need to go quite that far, but ...

Strong emotions invested in 'our team' and in 'our opponent' drive involvement and fandom. We seem to have the first half pretty well down, but shy away from the second. And it really is a concern especially for the WNBA - if the cities of Phoenix and Minneapolis cannot build up some sort of hatred for the other based on the rivalry between the Mercury and Lynx for supremacy in women's basketball ... there needs to be edgy trash talking, there needs to be depression when the other team scores and elation when our team does, there needs to be a little healthy hatred! Because it signifies emotional investment. DT is a perfect villain, Maya is just a silent assassin. Candace at least dunked at the Civic Center - now that stirred up some passion, DT punched the basketball stanchion, because as she said 'she needed to punch something orange!' and TN fans HATED her! Good for them!

 

[iamcbs]

I don't waste the energy it takes to hate, that being said I really don't like Duke at all and that goes for every sport....

 

[EricLA]

I agree... WCBB needs more hatred I admit I was a bit let down when I attended the Rutgers-UCONN regional final here in 2008. After reading and hearing about the rivalry and dislike between the two programs and fanbases.... I was halfway hoping.... well more like 95% hoping that I would see some yelling, cursing... and maybe not fisticuffs... but at least some pushing and shoving in the stands and/or concourse between the two fanbases. I witnessed none of that, and I left the Coliseum mildly disappointed.

Um, this is NOT European soccer...

 

[Kibitzer]

I abstain. All my hatred emotion is used up on those SOB's in the Mideast waving black flags and blowing innocents up. None left for mere domestic basketball programs.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I don't hate any of them. I just LOVE me some Huskies. And in just loving the Huskies so much makes it seem like I hate all others.

Same here. Don't hate any schools or teams. You have to respect all student-athletes for the hard work, dedication, and commitment required to play while getting an education regardless of what colors they wear.

 

[AnotherVolFan]

Mine would be UCONN.............because of the fans.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Mine would be UCONN...because of the fans.

Why because of the fans?

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

Do you like this image better?

Makes me think about the play where Voskuhl went after a loose ball in the 1999 NC game and, seeing that he was a tad late, went all Hulk Hogan on the Duke player and got the ball. I need to find that video. I like to imagine that CL was on the short end of Jake's Hammer, even though I know that was YEARS after he had graduated.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

Mine would be UCONN...because of the fans.

Funny, I don't have much bad to say about Vol fans. I've never met a nasty one. Frankly, I can say the same for ND fans, with one notable exception (you know who you are, "Mary").

Of course, it's been the Olympic Downhill for you guys since the series with UConn was cancelled. I'm surprised that you haven't brought the alumni together and demanded that the series be reinstated, in hopes that it would drive competition and recruitment to something that reflects your glorious past.

Good luck. Hopefully no UConn "fans" are trolling YOUR boards like this.

 

[trb123]

I do not hate any basketball program.
Certainly not TENN if it continues to perform at below Final Four level.
I am not even jealous of other other basketball programs.

The Lady Vol fans are another matter.
You can learn a lot from the VolNation - language, spelling, grammar, history, geography, southern chivalry.
I learned that TENN is recruiting Cheridene Green who plays center on the English Olympic team.
My knowledge will continue to increase should TENN pursue the Scotland Olympic team center as well.

 

[stwainfan]

I also don't like Vanderbilt.

 

[AnotherVolFan]

Why because of the fans?

Unfortunately most UCONN fans I've came across are still bitter and stuck in the past. With the younger generation, we remember the MM situation however I think we're more apt to just move on. It's been YEARS and fans on both sides still spit hate from each side and sometimes it becomes personal.

I don't know what went on during that recruitment nor do I pretend to, so I can't really form an opinion on the matter. The way a lot of fans moan and groan, you would think they were involved in the whole fiasco. People handle situations differently though, so I can't blame people for how they STILL feel about the situation. I just wish people would handle the rhetoric between fan bases with a little bit more class than what I've witnessed throughout the years.

 

[CTyankee]

My knowledge will continue to increase should TENN pursue the Scotland Olympic team center as well.

Uhhh... I don't think Scotland fields an Olympic team... It's a combined UK team. In FIFA's soccer the teams are separate.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Unfortunately most UCONN fans I've came across are still bitter and stuck in the past. With the younger generation, we remember the MM situation however I think we're more apt to just move on. It's been YEARS and fans on both sides still spit hate from each side and sometimes it becomes personal.

I don't know what went on during that recruitment nor do I pretend to, so I can't really form an opinion on the matter. The way a lot of fans moan and groan, you would think they were involved in the whole fiasco. People handle situations differently though, so I can't blame people for how they STILL feel about the situation. I just wish people would handle the rhetoric between fan bases with a little bit more class than what I've witnessed throughout the years.

To be fair I think some people on this board were dragged into the fiasco. I'm sure someone on here will correct me if I'm wrong about that, but if true you can understand why it's a little personal to some of the fans. Even more importantly to those of us not directly involved, Tennessee attempted to bring down UConn WCBB and make Geno and UConn look dirty. Tennessee attacked the integrity of our program. You think we should just get over your program's attempt to destroy ours? If Geno is a cheat, as Tennessee fans put it, what does that make Pat Summitt and the Vols program? I've never gotten an answer from Tennessee fans as to why Geno is a cheat other than "he just is" which is the kind of response you'd expect from a five year old.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

I voted for Tennessee, not because I hate any of the players, but for the response of the
previous administration to not landing Maya Moore, and most of all because of that
obnoxious subset of Tennessee fans that Nan refers to a "the tinfoil hat brigade".

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

From the Big East to the ACC, Boston College has done its best to marginalize UCONN.

 

[pacific 44]

I have less likey for Tinn-ow-freakin'-see than any other team in any sport on planet earth.Is that ok?

 

[Magy Cannon]

I don't hate any women's basketball teams, players, or coaches. I dislike people who disrespect the women's game.

 

[triaddukefan]

Do you like this image better?

If I said what i wanna say, i might get a mini-vacation......

 

[JordyG]

Mine would be UCONN...because of the fans.

I get it. Some of can be a little rabid, smug and over expectant. Although you stand aside from most LadyVol fans who hate The UConn because of Geno who they see as arrogant, dismissive, and now because of Parker, dishonorable.